Sex differences in adolescent alcohol and drug use. A disappearing phenomenon.

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Abstract
In 1974, 1737 junior (grades 7 and 8) and senior (grades 9-12) high school studients in 2 eastern Massachusetts [USA] communities completed anonymous self-administered questionnaires concerning their use of alcohol and drugs. City A is semi-industrial and predominantly middle and lower-middle class; Town B is more residential and middle and upper-middle class. Chi-square was used to test for statistically significant differences between groups. Among the senior students, there were no over-all differences between the sexes in the use of alcoholic beverages: In City A, 95% of the boys and 94% of the girls had drunk alcohol and 74 and 72% of the students had been intoxicated during the year; in Town B, 92% of both sexes had used alcohol; 64 and 63% of the boys and girls had been intoxicated. More boys than girls reported drinking beer (in City A, P < .01), drinking it more than 10 times in the past year (in Town B, P < .05), and becoming intoxicated on it 5 or more times (in City A, P < .01). Girls in City A reported more use of wine than did boys (P < .001), and in Town B more girls than boys reported intoxication from wine (P < .05) and distilled spirits (P < .05). Among the junior high school students, 78% of the boys and 69% of the girls in City A had drunk alcohol during the year, and in Town B the percentages were 83 and 72%, respectively (P < .05). Significantly more boys than girls in City A had been intoxicated during the year (P < .05). More junior high school boys than girls in both communities reported drinking beer (in City A, P < .02; Town B, P < .001). In City A more boys than girls reported drinking beer 10 or more times during the past year (P < .05). Among seniors, more girls than boys reported using amphetamines, barbiturates and strong pain killers. Among juniors there were no significant differences between the sexes in patterns of drug use. Among high school students traditional sex differences in alcohol and drug use are fading.

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